Islands of the Son
Dec 19th, 2009 by Jim Reyes
(Graham Carter shares a healthy Island lunch with the UCB Papua New Guinea team. (From left) Tony, Vetus, Graham, Board members Francis & Balim Sumanope and Patrick)
Between August and December Graham Carter & Denis Delaney undertook visits to Tonga, The Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to review radio ministries affiliated to UCB Pacific Partners.
Graham has steered radio missions in the Pacific for twenty two years. This was Denis’ first visit. They arrived in Tonga three weeks after the shipping disaster which saw 72 lives lost at sea. This tragedy struck deeply in a small community where family ties are very close. It was encouraging to hear first hand testimonies of the role the radio station played in supporting people through the broadcasts and one on one pastoral care.
(Denis and Graham with Station Manager Tina Lemazi (front right) and the Solomon’s team. )
While Graham is like one of the family to these ministries, for Denis it was a special experience being warmly welcomed there for the first time. “In each visit the one stand out feature for me was the dedication of people who have a huge heart for reaching their people with the love of Jesus, yet with very few resources.” said Denis.
Despite the era of modern technology, these nations are still quite isolated when it comes to travel and the availability of resources to support Christian broadcasting. The visits were valuable opportunities to strengthen relationships and explore ways of improving support for these important missions.
